The Old Apothecary

Bakery: The Old Apothecary Bakery & Cafe
Address: 1549 Barrington St, Halifax NS 
Website: http://www.theoldapothecary.com/ 
Style: North American, European 
Price: $$ 

In case you want to sit in a tub... with clothes on!

Seeing as this downtown bakery and cafe is mere months old, you'd think that I'm kept up-to-date on bakery openings nationwide. Actually, I'm not. :P I only found out this place opened earlier this year a few minutes ago, but it still made a pleasant stop on an unusually hot fall day, especially given the fact that I had already missed two bakeries that day (one was on holiday and the other only had two croissants left). The Old Apothecary is located in an old building on Barrington; perhaps looking at it doesn't necessarily reveal the reason behind the 'apothecary' name, except maybe for the wooden shelves behind the counter, but I'm not there for the name, but for the baked goods, which are displayed behind glass and also located in those aforementioned shelves. The style is a cross between European and what you'd expect to find at your typical North American bakery (flakier danishes, tarts, and cookies) with a bit of a retro flare, in addition to more rustic breads and coffee brewed before your eyes and served in a big enamel mug (it's quite neat ^^). Prices are more expensive compared to more outlying bakeries, especially the coffee (though you do get a giant mug of it), but the tarts were, compared with other baked goods, reasonably priced. Everything is priced and labelled.

And the main attraction: the orange cardamom tart

I was debating between two items when I spotted the danishes, which made it three items, but the lady in front of me starting talking about how good the orange cardamom tart ($3.40) looked and, seeing as that was one of my options as well, I made up my mind. They had me at cardamom, in fact. :P That being said, the tart was (or I thought it was) a take on the classic lemon meringue, with a soft, delicately browned meringue on top a sweet and sour orange filling, all in a tasty shortbread shell. I couldn't really taste the cardamom and would have loved a little more, but it was good nonetheless. The softness of the meringue and filling with the shell were just perfect in terms of texture. Not too sweet, not too doughy -- it was a great treat and, were I in Halifax (sometimes I wish I were... if someone would hire me *sighs*), I would definitely become a regular!

Rating: ***